Red Sox

Ben McDonald's shoulder is sore and he goes on the disabled list. Kevin Brown's finger is dislocated and he's sidelined for perhaps a month. The Orioles are some eight games behind the Boston Red Sox.Much more of this and it could be time to just start planning and playing for the future. Play Manny Alexander every day at second base. Play Jeffrey Hammonds every day in right field (and leave him there). Leave Scott Klingenbeck in the rotation and find out whether he'll ever be more than a guy who just gives you a chance to win. Call up Brian Sackinsky, Jimmy Haynes, Mark Smith, Alex Ochoa, find out what they can do. Find out whether they can help.

We're almost a month into the season, and it seems an appropriate time for another trip "Around the AL East. " Here's a look at a main storyline for each opponent in the Orioles' division as well as a look at who's hot and who's not on each club:   BOSTON RED SOX (16-7) I'm not about to brag, because my preseason predictions overall don't look so great . But I did go on record saying that, in the AL East, “each of the five teams could conceivably win the division - or finish last.” Many people thought the Red Sox were the team least equipped to contend for the division title, but that sure hasn't looked the case through four weeks of baseball.

The Orioles are traveling to Fort Myers today to face the Red Sox, but some important stuff is going on this morning here at the Ed Smith Stadium Complex. Pitchers Tommy Hunter, Zach Britton and Jim Johnson will all throw in a two-inning simulated game on the back fields here. What happens here might be more important than what's going on down south. The Orioles will send essentially the same lineup as they did yesterday afternoon on the road against the Rays. Here are the lineups: Orioles Chavez RF Adams 2B N. Johnson DH Betemit LF Mahoney 1B Teagarden C Flaherty SS Bell 3B Avery CF Eveland LHP Red Sox Ellsbury CF Pedroia 2B Gonzalez 1B Lavarnway C Ross RF Punto DH Hassan LF Middlebrooks 3B Aviles SS Bard RHP

Under manager Buck Showalter, the Orioles enjoy being a team that few take notice of on the national stage. They will be front and center in the baseball spotlight for their first nationally televised Sunday night game in five seasons. Tonight's ESPN-televised game against the Yankees is first time the Orioles have appeared on Sunday Night Baseball since Sept. 21, 2008, which was the final game at the old Yankee Stadium. All other games will be completed by the time the Orioles and Yankees start play tonight at 8:05.

All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was in Boston on Saturday to take a physical exam needed to complete a trade from the Padres to the Red Sox, two people familiar with the situation told the Associated Press. Gonzalez had surgery on his non-throwing right shoulder on Oct. 20. The Padres said then that Gonzalez was expected to be ready for spring training. The Padres will receive three top prospects — right-hander Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and outfielder Reymond Fuentes — plus a player to be determined.

Players must adjust Ron Fritz Baltimore Sun It's too early to tell. Bobby Valentine certainly has the experience, and he convinced ownership he's the guy. Now he needs to work on the players. They clearly preferred the country-club atmosphere under Terry Francona. But after the late-season collapse and missing the playoffs last year, the players lost their country-club membership. Thanks to their pitiful performance and clubhouse shenanigans, someone had to go. What second baseman Dustin Pedroia said after Valentine criticized Kevin Youkilis was stunning: "I really don't know what Bobby's trying to do, but that's not the way we go about our stuff around here.

Pro wrestling legend Ric Flair was at Fenway Park on Tuesday night to meet with Dustin Pedroia and the Red Sox . Our Dan Connolly reported that a couple of Orioles players got a kick out of meeting him , too. The play did not pay off for Boston, though, as "the Nature Boy" was unable to "WOOO!" the Red Sox past the feisty Orioles . However, Flair delivered when he emphatically introduced the Red Sox on NESN before the game (while holding a championship belt, of course)

In case you missed it, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and O's closer Kevin Gregg got into it this weekend and fists started flying.  Here's how O's beat reporter Jeff Zrebiec described the scene:  Ortiz charged Gregg in the bottom of the eighth inning after the Orioles pitcher yelled at him as he jogged to first base. Ortiz took umbrage to Gregg throwing three straight pitches inside, while Gregg didn't appreciate the fact that Ortiz had walked toward the mound a pitch earlier, and then swung at a 3-0 pitch in a seven-run game.

The Orioles had a hand in the collapse of the Red Sox, taking five games from the playoff pretenders last month. But fried chicken, beer and video games played a bigger role, according to an interesting Boston Globe report. Bob Hohler of The Globe reported that Boston's top starters, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey, have a habit of pigging out and chillaxing in the clubhouse during home games, even critical ones in September. “The indifference of Beckett, Lester, and Lackey in a time of crisis can be seen in what team sources say became their habit of drinking beer, eating fast-food fried chicken, and playing video games in the clubhouse during games while their teammates tried to salvage a once-promising season,” Hohler wrote in a Wednesday report.

BOSTON - Over the past two nights, the Orioles recaptured those late-inning heroics of last season at Fenway Park. One night after a five-run ninth-inning rally led them to victory, the Orioles came from behind against the Red Sox again Thursday, winning 3-2 in a game that played out much like so many of last year's close wins. This victory sealed the Orioles' fifth straight series win at Fenway Park, a streak that dates back to July 7-10, 2011. “It means a lot,” said Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, who drove in two runs, including the game-winner in the seventh.

In the sixth inning of the Orioles' 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, Orioles manager Buck Showalter turned to bench coach John Russell in the visiting dugout of Fenway Park and made a prognostication in the middle of a tied game. Left-hander Brian Matusz had just overcome a 3-0 count to Jarrod Saltalamacchia to strike him out on a full-count pitch. Matusz came into the game with two on and one out in the sixth, relieving starter Chris Tillman after he threw 96 pitches.

It didn't take long for Orioles first baseman Chris Davis' season-opening offensive tear to continue on Thursday night against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. In Davis' first at bat of the game in the second inning, he crushed an Alfredo Aceves pitch to center field for his sixth homer of the season. Davis' solo shot put the Orioles up 1-0. Davis now has homers in 13 of his last 16 games dating back to Sept. 26, 2012. Included in that stretch are consecutive homer streaks of four and six games.

BOSTON - Crazy things happen when the Orioles come to Boston. This wasn't a 17-inning game. No position players had to pitch. But the comeback the Orioles staged Wednesday night was one they needed to salvage this three-game series at Fenway Park. Trailing by two runs, the Orioles rallied for a five-run ninth inning against Boston closer Joel Hanrahan, capped by Manny Machado's three-run homer over the Green Monster in left field that gave them a dramatic 8-5 win. “It was a huge win for us,” Machado said.

Now that the Orioles' bullpen has returned to the conventional seven-reliever setup, roles will be magnified for each reliever. That goes for right-hander Tommy Hunter, who allowed back-to-back homers in the sixth inning of Wednesday's game against the Red Sox before the Orioles rallied in a five-run ninth for an 8-5 win at Fenway Park. Hunter, who was the first Orioles pitcher to take the mound after a 43-minute rain delay, actually started the inning strong by striking out the first two batters, including outlasting third baseman Will Middlebrooks on an 11-pitch at bat. But after striking out Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava and Jarrod Saltalamacchia both homered on 96-mph fastballs.

Adam Jones said Sunday he wanted to “shut up” Red Sox fans Monday during Boston's home opener. But instead, Jones and the red-hot Orioles offense got shut down by starter Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox. Buchholz pitched seven scoreless innings for the Red Sox, allowing three hits and striking out eight batters, including Jones once. He also issued four walks. Buchholz didn't allow an Orioles runner to reach third base. Obviously, a 3-1 loss was not what Jones had in mind Sunday when he said the Orioles planned to spoil Opening Day in Boston . "The more people, the more you want to shut them up. That's how I look at it. I don't care, they can stand up the whole game.

One of the key questions for the Orioles this season is whether their bullpen can repeat its success from 2012. Bullpens could actually be a deciding factor in a taut American League East. Hall of Fame pitcher and TBS MLB analyst Dennis Eckersley joined us for a quick Q&A the other day where we discussed bullpens and his expectations for the division. Eckersley - who also works as a studio analyst for NESN, the regional cable network that carries Red Sox games - also gave a brief scouting report of Boston's team as the Orioles begin a three-game series at Fenway Park this afternoon.

BOSTON - Anyone taking a glimpse of Fenway Park's iconic Green Monster can't miss the posting of the American League East standings, which after Tuesday's off day will show the Orioles with a losing record for the first time since the end of the 2011 season. The Orioles' 3-1 loss to the Red Sox in Boston's home opener Monday, marked the Orioles (3-4) first three-game losing streak since last July 23-25. However, the loss comes just seven games into this young season, prompting the Orioles to scoff at the notion that these consecutive losses give any reason to worry heading into Tuesday's first off day of the season.